Coriolis Effects Face Deluxe

The Coriolis Effects Face Deluxe is a two-stage fuzz pedal built on the Fuzz Face circuit, with germanium and silicon transistor switching, A/B settings, and bias and impedance controls. It is Coriolis Effects' take on the classic two-transistor fuzz, extended with switching that lets a player move between transistor types and saved settings from the top of the pedal rather than by rebuilding or rebiasing it¹.

The initial batch pairs NOS Tungsram AC128 germanium transistors with Toshiba 2N4125 silicon transistors, alongside a 2N3458 and a Bourns transformer used as the pickup sim¹.

A Fuzz Face with a transformer pickup sim

The Fuzz Face circuit goes back to the Dallas Arbiter original, and its history is why transistor choice is such a live question for any Fuzz Face: Jimi Hendrix's first was a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face with germanium transistors, and he changed to the silicon version sometime in 1971². Germanium and silicon versions of the same circuit sound and behave differently, and players have argued the merits of each for decades. Silicon Fuzz Faces can also be prone to oscillation, which is why some builders offer a variant with a filter cap to tame it³.

The Face Deluxe sidesteps the argument by putting both in one box. Its transistor switching lets you select between the germanium AC128 and silicon 2N4125 sides of the circuit, and its impedance control addresses the loading question that follows Fuzz Faces around: a pickup sim, here built on a Bourns transformer, presents the circuit with something closer to a real guitar pickup's impedance, which matters when the pedal sits after buffers or other pedals on a board¹.

The controls and switches, as reported by the reviewer:

Most Fuzz Faces sound their best fully cranked, and the reviewer found that holds here too¹.

The A/B settings footswitch is the feature that sets the Face Deluxe apart from a straight Fuzz Face clone. Instead of one fixed voice, you can set up two and jump between them with your foot. The reviewer noted it reminds him of the Palmer Custom FX The Solarist Fuzz, which also does A/B and transistor switching, though the Solarist adds a RangeMaster and three footswitches¹.

Batches and transistor pairings

The AC128/2N4125 pairing is specific to the initial batch of the Face Deluxe, which sold out pretty much instantly¹. Further batches are planned, but they will inevitably have slightly different transistor pairings, since germanium transistor stock is finite and no two batches of NOS parts are the same. For a player comparing listings, that means the transistor types are worth checking batch by batch rather than assuming every Face Deluxe is built the same way.

This is common across small-run Fuzz Face style builders. The Talisman Audio Deluxe Face Blender pairs 2N3053 germanium and BFX84 silicon transistors⁴, while the Analog Man Sun Face has been offered with Telefunken BC108C transistors⁵. Builders of silicon Fuzz Face variants have long reported that transistor choice changes the character noticeably: one builder of a Creepy Fingers Si Fuzz Face called it an amazing fuzz and very different from the Analog Man Sun Face⁶.

What the reviewer said

Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson reviewed the Face Deluxe in August 2026 and placed it at the very top of his fuzz chart¹:

He described it as an utterly magnificent, S-tier Fuzz Face, crediting the extended range of controls, the transistor selection and the Bourns transformer pickup sim for pushing it beyond what a standard Fuzz Face offers¹. At $269 from the Coriolis Effects webstore, with $35 shipping to the UK, he considered the price and delivery both pretty decent¹.

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